


Tears and Fears

by jalendavi_lady



Category: Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Ending, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-12-12
Updated: 2004-12-12
Packaged: 2017-10-13 05:09:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 25
Words: 16,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/133318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jalendavi_lady/pseuds/jalendavi_lady
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vader is told Luke is dead when the younger Skywalker surrenders to Imperial troops... AUness ensues.</p><p>The 'major character death' warning is due to the emotional reactions to this fake news, as well as a similar stunt I pulled on my readers during the original posting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Tell me everything](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/1879) by Binder-Lover. 



> This fanfic was inspired by one Binder-Lover wrote on the Jedi Council Boards back in late 2004. The basic concept of Palpatine using a Force-suppression device to make it feel in the Force as if Luke had died when he turned himself in on Endor gave me plot bunnies, and Binder-Lover did not mind me taking the plot bunny and seeing where it led.

"Your highness, a Rebel claiming to be Luke Skywalker has surrendered to one of our scouting squads."

"Put the collar on him and start working on him... but not so fast that you break him." _That will be a most enjoyable passtime when that stupid rebellion is finally stamped out. How long since I had a Jedi to break..._

"It shall be as you ordered."

"Find his companions. Make sure Lord Vader does not know you have them, and tell him young Skywalker is dead. He is under orders to bring the young Jedi to me and should arrive there soon." _We can't have the old apprentice learning about the new prospective one, now can we? Such a fine look on Tyrannus' face when he died. And 'losing' his son should silence that bit of Anakin I've never been able to beat out of him, that young Skywalker seems to have touched on Bespin._

Remove a hand? Vader should have run him through!

"It will be done, my Emperor."


	2. Chapter 2

Darth Vader raged his way through the Imperial garrison on Endor. It had been hours, hours of troopers running away in the corners of his vision. He had destroyed the landing platform and the shuttle he had arrived in.

When he arrived to retrieve his son.

His son.

His son, dead because of the ineptitude of the local commander. The late local commander, who had personally come to brag of the end of the destroyer of the _Death Star_.

 _Did he ever even hear me say his name...?_ He hadn't been wracked by emotion like this since Padme had died, since his own mother lay still on the sand. _There was just once, but he was in pain... Did he even notice?_

Tears streamed down his face, pooling in the mask and dripping slowly down into the suit.

 _I didn't feel him die... just disappear in the Force. I thought he was just playing hide and seek again, trying to get away from me... Does that mean he didn't feel the end? Or that it was so painful he withdrew from the world as much as he could to escape the agony? I was so far away... I only felt his presence, not his sense..._

He leaned against a wall, pressing his helmet against hard ferrocrete.

 _Did he even know he was going to die? Even a moment, to make peace with the world? Did they let him have something as simple as that?_

The expected Rebel fleet had never shown up.

The Rebel strike force had been caught before transmitting some code or such, or so another now-dead officer had tried to tell him.

 _Did the Force accept him softly, embracing him as I never did? Or was it a hard end?_

There was sound on the other side of the wall, he realized. Holding cells, listed as empty. They hadn't been used, ever. And this wasn't the hallway they were holding the strike force in... unless...

 _Unless I'm being fed lies._ The thought speared through his mind. No mere commander would have dared mastermind such a thing, or had a reason.

A commander would have been enough of an idiot to kill Luke. That could be a simple accident. But not hide war captives from the acting leader of military forces in the area.

Which meant...

His mind cleared.

It meant lies. And he had been too emotional over the loss of his son to feel the lies singing in the darkness.

Too emotional to question why Luke had simply disappeared.

Too emotional to wonder why Luke's death felt different than the thousands of other Jedi deaths Vader had witnessed or caused since he was a child.

He focused, as he had not focused all day.

On the other side of the wall, a Force-bright human he knew instantly to be the little Alderaani firebrand. The strange mix of Force-contact and Force-blocking that was Han Solo. Chewbacca, just as recognizable.

And a gap in the Force.

He couldn't sense anything, not even air motion, in that space.

And it was about the size of a small adult human.

Force-blocking devices tended to shut off when the wearer died; there was no reason to maintain the shield when there was nothing to block anymore.

Luke was alive, and only a wall away.

Anakin felt tears leaking down his cheeks. For a moment he mentally floundered; he couldn't remember ever having cried with joy before.

He hadn't had much joy before, either.

Reality set in a moment later.

All three Force-presences across the wall that he could sense were tinged with worry. And it wasn't for themselves.

 _Could I still lose him... please, no. If he'd turned at Bespin, this wouldn't be happening..._

He had a sudden flash of something, an image...

 _He would be little more than a slave, bound not by love but by a desire to stay alive..._

He wouldn't have been Luke anymore.

Danger sense flared in warning, self-censoring.

Vader dodged it, then jerked his head back up. Understanding blossomed.

 _I've been used. From the moment I first stepped on Coruscant._

Chosen One. Powerful.

Prone to submission to anyone with a big enough stick.

He trembled for a moment, remembering the few times... the more than few times... Palpatine had decided he needed to learn lessons the hard way. The way of pain.

 _He engineered this. He let them hurt Luke. He let them make me think my son was dead..._ Pure rage, the _menen_ at the heart of the human soul from the first time one learned how to fight back against the predators, to take revenge... it welled up in him.

And then there was the moan across the wall. Weak, but Vader's attention was immediately drawn off his own condition.

 _He's cut off from the Force. He could be seconds from death, and you wouldn't know._

He tried to resist the fear that was biting at the edge of his soul.

 _My healing skills were always weak. There's no guarantee I can help him alone._

Medkit. Painkillers. Bacta bandages. Antiseptic anything.

That's what he needs now. Vader's head drooped as he went down the hall, seeking the medcenter. _Medical aid. Not his father._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Menen is the Greek word for rage; it's also the first word of Homer's Illiad


	3. Chapter 3

Leia pressed herself against the bars of her cell, arm reaching beyond to clutch at the young Jedi's hand as he unconsciously moaned and shook with pain.

Luke had been carried in an hour or so after Leia, Han, and Chewie had been put in their cells. The prison uniform he was in had already shown signs of seeping blood when the guards carried him in. Now, several hours later, the ferrocrete under him was slick.

He had never woken up.

...

The medcenter was abandoned, the medic having run off apparently when he realized Darth Vader was headed his way or off mending the broken bodies he had left in his wake earlier.

He grabbed a medkit and stuffed in all the extra bandages and painkillers he could find, then left.

No one was in the hallways.

 _They all abandoned posts to avoid me? Surely I wasn't that out of control..._

He passed something that was not entirely unrecognizeable as a power droid.

 _I was that out of control._

I have run of this place. No one else is here.

He returned to the door to the holding cell chamber, pressing his hand to the palm-lock.

It didn't open.

It was the work of a moment to hot-wire it using the Force in such a way that it could only be opened with the Force.


	4. Chapter 4

Leia looked up, eyes wide, as the door swished open.

_Vader!_

She wanted to pull back to the farthest corner she could reach, but she couldn't, wouldn't, let go of Luke.

She couldn't let him face the agony alone.

To face their father alone.

The Sith stalked in, carrying a bag with him.

 _Can't he just leave Luke alone?!_

Luke didn't twitch as Vader came closer, unlocked his cell with the wave of a hand, stood over his prone helpless body...

And knelt, cupping a hand against Luke's cheek.

"Is he allergic to anything?"

"So, you're doing your own medwork?" Han spat from a cell on the far end of the room.

There was a Wookiee howl.

Blink.

Less loud, Vader turned to her. "I have antibiotics and painkillers. Is he allergic to anything?"

Stammering, she listed off what she knew. She gently squeezed Luke's hand as Vader injected him with a few things and the young Jedi twitched.

"Princess, I need your help."

She glared.

"I need to go get other things. Someone needs to start cleaning him up and just stay with him. If I unlock your door, can I trust you to come over here and help? The outer door is locked, and even if it wasn't you would be walking into the middle of an Imperial garrison if you left this room."

She nodded, numbly. _For Luke..._

"Can I trust you?" he whispered.

Leia floundered for a moment. _He doesn't know!_

"He is not the one you claim to love."

Leia closed her eyes, clinging desperately to Luke. "He's like a brother to me," she bit out, hoping Vader wouldn't hear the truth hidden in her words. "He's the family I don't have anymore!"

She heard the lock click and tentatively switched cells.

The moment she was within physical reach of Luke, she was clinging to his hand again. "Did you know?" she whispered.

"No one is even supposed to be held here. Officially, I was told Luke was dead several hours ago. No, I didn't know." He started to rise to his feet. "I have to go get something else. It looks like Palpatine is trying to pull something..."

Her jaw dropped. "You... you..."

"Finally noticed all the lies." He paused at the cell door. "I'm locking you in the cell and keeping the outer door locked so only I can open it. I have no clue what's going on, so..."

"Here's the safest place for us and him."

Vader nodded and left.


	5. Chapter 5

"How can you trust him?" Han snapped. "After all he's done!"

"Han, you wouldn't understand..."

"He's the enemy, Leia. The second Luke wakes up he'll be trying to turn him Sith."

She swallowed hard. "No, he won't."

"And why are you so sure?!"

 _Forgive me, Brother._ "Do you even know how Luke ended up here?!"

Silence.

"He was trying to get close enough to Vader to try to make him an ally."

"Idiot kid." There was a Wookiee howl of agreement.

"Vader spoke badly of Palpatine. That's not like him. At all."

A few moments of silence as she started cleaning and binding the worst wounds.

"And how does Luke figure into all of this? How do we know Vader's not planning on using Luke?!"

"Because of things I am not at liberty to tell."

"Oh really. Something so powerful it holds a Sith Lord from doing what he has always tried to do, but cannot be said." He snorted. "Princess, as a former senator you should know better than that."

"Well then excuse me for believing in basic ethics."

Luke moaned slightly and Leia ran a hand through his hair, trying to offer comfort however she could.

Vader returned moments later, dragging something behind him.

Leia backed up as the cell door opened.

Vader pulled open the bag, using the Force to toss a pair of bedkits through the bars to Han and Chewie.

"Solo, how were you supposed to contact..."

"You think I'd tell you that in exchange for a blanket and a pillow?!"

"Given that I may know a way to get the shield generator turned off so that it won't ever run again, and that I know about the fleet on the other side of Endor..."

"You're just trying to trick us. Promising information, giving bedding, letting Luke have medical care... All just one big trick."

Leia could barely hear the growl that began in the depths of Vader's throat.

She knew she'd never actively touched the Force in her life, only passively sensed, and then rarely.

She knew it would be a matter of seconds after a success for her familial cover to be eternally blown as far as Vader was concerned.

But they all needed clear heads to survive this.

She closed her eyes and focused.


	6. Chapter 6

_How dare he?! His friend is in danger! And I let him know of the fleet! Doesn't he realize how long we all might be here, depending on how much pain even moving Luke might cause?_

His mind barely registered the little Princess nearby, closing her eyes...

//Don't! Reacting like this won't make anything better!//

He resisted turning to face her. Her sense... her sense... the desperation...

'He's like a brother to me.'

She opened her eyes, glaring boldly at him. "Shut up, both of you!"

Chewie whuffled, a Wookiee equivalent of the common human whistle of surprise.

"Han, he's told us something we didn't know—that the fleet is waiting for our ships. If he was really using bedding and Luke's care as bargaining chips, wouldn't he have bargained first? And brought a real medic?

"Vader, in case you hadn't noticed, the rest of us here have been watching a friend bleed, lying unconscious on ferrocrete, for several hours. We've all had a bad day. And we've all heard Lando talk about certain deals and agreements you've broken in the past.

"Now, can we all be civil enough to figure out what we're going to do next?"

"Leia, he is the enemy. The figurehead of everything you've ever fought against. How can you..."

"General Solo, people change." Vader felt he had to speak for himself. Leia was doing so much. It was not good for such a quarrel to split her and her smuggler.

 _When did she become Leia?_

When I learned she was, is, Luke's sister. Maybe. If nothing else, she is as Padme was and is Luke's heart-sister, if things are as they seem.

"Your friend here believed I was capable of change. He was betting his life on it, actually, and I'm fairly sure he knew that when he left to find a way to get to me." _If he didn't, he's more of an idiot in some ways than I was at his age._

"Which just means Luke is a naïve, overly trusting farmboy."

"General, look at your situation. The _Death Star_ is nearly complete—operational or nearly so. Your strike team has been captured. Once the _Death Star_ is operational, there will be no handy exhaust port. The Rebel fleet is ready to act once you let them know the shield is down. This is your one shot to get rid of that thing."

Han closed his eyes for a moment. "Get me a commlink," he bit out. "At the least, I can explain to Mothma what's going on."

Vader nodded, then finished removing things from the bag, throwing a normal bedroll in a corner of the cell and placing two kits with inflatable mattresses and heaters near the front.

"Only the best for the Sith Lord," Han snorted under his breath.

 _No, only the best for the Sith Lord's children._ He pointed to one kit. "Injured man." Then, to the other. "Princess." Finally, the one in the corner. "Sith Lord."

Vader knelt, starting the inflation cycle on one of the two mattresses. "I'll help you move Luke over and treat his back once I can find a commlink and food," he promised Leia quietly but loud enough that Han could hear him.


	7. Chapter 7

The moment Vader was gone, Leia started running her fingers through Luke's hair again. _Be okay, Brother. Just be okay._

//With care, he will be.//

She almost forcibly ejected Vader from her mind. //Not... comfortable... with... this...// she mentally ground out.

He drew back until he was nearly 'whispering'. //This better, Princess Leia?//

//You were rooting around in my mind!// she accused.

//No, I wasn't. You were thinking hard. You were worrying about Luke, and I was trying to reassure you about his condition. For the Force-strong there is private thought, projected thought, and public thought. You just haven't learned what each feels like yet.//

He heart froze for a second. //You heard what I called Luke.//

A mental nod of affirmation. //If you wish to have no contact with me when this is all over, that is your choice. If Luke wishes to have no contact with me, that is his choice. I've lived 21 years alone; I can live the rest of my life alone if the need arises.//

His feel in the Force said otherwise, but Leia didn't call him on it.

//Besides, even without everything I've done to you both, I don't have the right to impose myself on you. Either of you.//

There really was no diplomatic way to respond.

//I found the supplies they took from you and the other Rebels. Including Han's commlink and the food you all were carrying. Taking all commlinks, searching for another foodsource.//

//Why? Food is food...//

//And considering that that is exactly what you could be expected to think, it's probably been tampered with. Besides, I need to see it there's anything I can eat around here.//

She was quiet for a moment. _That's the first time he's really mentioned his own needs..._ //Vader... umm...//

//What is it, Leia?// The words were calm but slightly annoyed.

//Well... umm... just wondering... what do you eat, anyway?//

//In atmospheres where I can take the mask off, just about anything bland. When I'm stuck wearing the mask, I can only handle liquids—nutritional shakes and the like.// He fell silent. //That's the first time anyone's asked me that.//

//Really?//

//When I said I live alone, I meant it. Even if the Alliance would take me in, it'll be years before I get acclimated to having people around again.//

They broke contact for a while. Leia spent the waiting time disinfecting the last of Luke's minor cuts that she could reach. She could do nothing for any of the bruises her brother now sported.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when he quietly sent, //I'm coming back with what I could find. Commlinks, safe food and water.//

"Leia, what's wrong?" Han demanded.

"Nothing. Just got startled a bit. Vader's headed back with the commlinks confiscated from us, food, and water."

"And you know this how?"

She sighed. "I'm just Force-strong enough to communicate over distance."

"And this mystical ability just happened to manifest now?"

Chewie whuffled some long speech about something or other.

"You were doing this with Luke before?"

"Without realizing what was going on."

A click, and Vader walked in.


	8. Chapter 8

Chewie growled, [Stay out of her mind, Sith!]

To his, and Han's, surprise, Vader answered, [Every Force-contact between the Princess and myself that has occurred today was either voluntary or accidental, Honorable Chewbacca. And I assure you, none of that involved me digging around in her mind.] He reached into the bag he carried, passing a pair of ration packs to Han through the bars. "I assume none of you had lunch."

"Thanks," Han whispered under his breath.

He passed Chewie four ration packs and several large thawing steaks. [I found these in the personal stash of the garrison commander. If I recall correctly, bleeding bantha steaks are something of a delicacy to your people.]

Chewie flashed an intentionally toothy grin at the Sith Lord.

His nose crinkled. _Something does not smell as it should._ He lifted the steaks, sniffing.

"What is it, Chewie?" Chewbacca could count on one paw the times he had ever heard such ice in the Corellian's voice.

[Something odd in the air.]

Less than two seconds later, Han lunged forward and Vader lept backwards, crashing against the front bars of Chewbacca's cell.

[Not that kind of odd!] Chewie howled at his pilot friend.

Vader's left hand stuck partway through the bars, and Chewie delicately sniffed at it. Vader didn't flinch away, but Chewie could see his hand shaking.

[Ahh. That kind of odd.] Chewie almost purred. [I thought it was too strong to be coming from the cub or the princess.]

He saw Vader's shoulders slump, just ever so slightly. [You know what I refer to,] Chewie commented.

[Only in rumor. Never had the sense of smell to check.]

Chewie indulged in a burst of loud Wookiee laughter while Han, confused as Chewie had ever seen him, tried to explain to Leia, who was even more confused, what was going on.

After a moment, Vader headed back over to where Luke and Leia were.

"So?" Han asked. "What was it?"

[Humans all have distinct individual smells. However, several factors effect it: genetics, diet, clothing choices, emotions, hormones... and, as some of my people discovered centuries ago, Force-use; in particular, the nature of that use. Darksiders have a smell. Lightsiders have a smell. And what we have here is a Sith who smells of the Lightside.]

Han's mouth hung open.

Vader carefully unloaded what amounted to about two days' food for all of them, even if Luke woke up, and about a day's additional water in sealed containers. "The food and water should be safe—I raided the stormtroopers' stockroom. Likewise, Chewbacca's steaks—the garrison commander wouldn't keep bad or tainted meat for his own consumption. And, at least as far as I can tell, these are unbugged and untampered with. He pulled out a clear bag filled with familiar commlinks and Force-tossed it to Han. "Couldn't be sure which you were supposed to use, so I grabbed them all."

"Thank... you..." Han stammered, still clearly trying to regain his mental footing.

"If it makes you feel any better, General Solo, at least you are the same person you were when you woke this morning. I, unfortunately for my current mental health but fortunately in every other sense possible, am not. So, if I snap at anyone, that's why."

"Understood."

There was a low moan from across the room.

[The cub wakes,] Chewie rumbled.


	9. Chapter 9

Luke woke with a snap, moaning without knowing exactly why one moment and gasping out in pain the next.

Leia was there a moment later, holding him down, trying to quiet his sobs.

 _How... what... where..._

Everything snapped into clarity.

The surrender.

The initial beating and the Force going dim after they'd nearly knocked him senseless.

Lying gagged and in binders, wanting to scream every time the rocking of the walker bounced his twisted left ankle into the wall.

Being thrown, suddenly unbound, into a small room.

'He's not to be permanently injured, and his highness wishes to receive him unbroken, but I suppose you can have your bit of fun...'

The next thing Luke knew, he was, quite unsuccessfully, trying to defend himself against a hulking man with the emblem of the Imperial Torturer's Guild on one shoulder and a knife in his other hand.

By the time he'd passed out from fear and pain—not that he'd let his fear control him—he'd almost wished the torturer would accidentally kill him.

And over it all, he'd heard the garrison commander say something about Vader not being told.

There would be no rescue, no matter how suspect, from his biological father.

And Leia was here...

The Emperor had them both...

It was all over.

He had failed.

Failed.

And then there was no hope of fighting back. He was Forceless, with a sprained ankle, cut-open back, and a mild to moderate head injury if the ringing in his ears and inability to focus his eyes properly meant anything.

He closed his eyes again, whimpering ever so slightly.

Muffled, disjointed conversation around him. He fumbled for Leia's hand and felt her catch his hand in her own.

Something sharp pricked his arm, and he gave an involuntary yelp. A moment later, the pain lessened slightly.

"I think I hit my head somewhere," he mumbled, the sound of his own voice reverberating in his head, making him nauseated. He felt his head jerk up, and then firm hands—not Leia's—were rolling onto his side and holding him relatively still while he coughed up acid.

More conversation as Leia wiped his face off and cleaned up as much of the mess as possible.

Slowly, he was lifted onto some kind of soft something. He felt someone pulling the shreds of what had been his shirt before the fight and the knife away from the slash across his back.

At least the pressure of his own weight was finally off the worst of his injuries...

And then cold bacta ointment was being smoothed over the long cut from one shoulder to his other hip—he'd jerked at just the wrong moment while in the torrturer's clutches, although for all he knew it had been planned that way for it didn't feel like a deep cut—and a long strip of a gauzy something was put over it. He moved his arm slightly and could feel adhesive pull against his skin.

Soft hands pulled a soft blanket over him. Leia stretched out beside him, gently stroking his face and neck.

She kept shaking him whenever he closed his eyes, until he whimpered, "Light hurts." Then, she gently held his hand in her own in a way that required him to constantly consciously adapt to her changing grasp.

 _They don't want me to fall asleep again._

He wasn't sure how long it was before there was conversation near him again. There was another injection. The firm hands were there again, resting on his shoulders.

A little while later, his vision cleared a little and the ringing lessened somewhat. Leia released his hand, wrapping her arm around him and letting him nuzzle his face into her shoulder and hair.

 _I love you, sister._

Within moments, he was asleep again.  



	10. Chapter 10

  
//He's never going to let me get this close to him again.// There was awe and fear in Vader's mind, and if his heart could have deviated from its mechanically set precision it would have been pounding.

He had never actually touched his son before today. The closest he'd ever gotten was in those last horrible moments on Bespin. And before, Luke hadn't been conscious.

//He will. Once he understands what's happened.//

//And you know this how?//

//Because if he wasn't going to give you a chance if you turned back, he wouldn't have gotten into this mess at all.//

//He was captured...//

//He surrendered, remember? I'm the last person he talked to before he left: trust me. He thought there was a chance he could talk you back to the lightside of the Force. Luke had to try. And yes, he did know he was betting his life. He may react badly at first, but there's hope.//

 _Get yourself back to the present situation,_ he told himself. _Not all the medicine in the world can do any good for Luke unless we all survive this._

Han was talking into a commlink. After a heated discussion, Han closed the connection.

"How long until the fleet gets here?" Vader quietly asked.

"Sometime late tomorrow. We'll get a 3-hour warning."

"Good. I do not dare disable or reconfigure the shield until they are almost here. Too much chance for someone to figure out it was me that did it; too much chance for us to all die unnecessarily."

"TIE fighter strikes?" Leia whispered.

"Worse." He nodded upward with his head. "That thing is at least almost operational, and if I recall the equations from Lemelisk's notes—he really should have used something other than his own name as his computer password—it only takes about two days to charge the laser from no power to enough power to destroy this moon. The more we can reduce the apparent threat from down here visible up there, the better our chances."

He used the Force to pass a ration pack to Leia. //I'm sorry you're even in this situation, Leia. I've been a fool and an idiot.//

//Did you find food for yourself?// she asked a moment later, when they were all quietly eating.

//I'll be fine.//

//You didn't, did you?// She quietly picked at some sort of compressed protein something.

There was no avoiding truth. //Nothing. Medcenter outfitted for trauma care, not long term treatment. Anyone hurt enough to require a liquid diet would have been shuttled to the _Death Star_. There's nothing.//

//Were and are there any female stormtroopers stationed here? Ii know Palpatine was trying to push them all out of the military slowly, but...//

//Maybe. This is considered a risky place to be assigned, so I wouldn't be surprised if a few got stationed here.//

//Do you know where they would be quartered?//

A pause. //I think so. I never noticed such things.//

//Check there. Diet stuff or supplemental stuff, either way it's calories.//

He nodded, leaving again.


	11. Chapter 11

They all ate in silence, each occasionally glancing at the ceiling or at Luke. Stormtrooper rations were meant to at least be somewhat palatable, but Leia found herself barely able to choke her food down.

Luke was so injured, so weak... and the head injury was all they had any clue about at all. If he'd lived this long, it meant at the very least there wasn't any noticeable amount of internal bleeding, but other than that brief bit of hand holding he hadn't moved since Vader— _Father,_ Leia reminded herself—had moved him.

And then there was the entire situation with the war. Somewhere in the building was the rest of the strike force and the droids. She'd seen the Ewoks flee for the woods after the tide of battle turned for the absolute worst. They were all still wildcards in the current situation.

 _I need to find out where they are. And get them out of here. The rest of the strike team... if they were to get loose while Vader's doing whatever he's planning on doing..._

It would wreck everything.

Vader returned some time later, carrying a few cans of something or other in his arms. He carefully set them down beside his bedroll once he was fully inside the room.

"What's that?" Han asked without malice.

"Food I can eat. The suit and mask aren't for show. I fell into a lava pit 21, 22 years ago and this is about as 'recovered' as I can ever expect to be."

It was the first time Leia had ever heard pain in his voice.

//Vader?// she asked in concern.

He seemed to stare into blank space for a moment, looking away from all of them.

"Vader?" Han whispered, apparently catching that something was up.

"It's nothing you need to deal with. It's not your problem."

Han pressed up close to the front bars of his cell. "We are all in this together, now. And since the entire plan, whatever it is, depends entirely on you tomorrow, it is our problem. And since something tells me you are either voluntarily or involuntarily going to be helping Luke rebuild the Jedi Order, in some form or other, it's his problem too, even more than for the rest of us."

 _You better bet this is Luke's problem,_ Leia thought.

"So, what is going on?"

"I was supposed to be back up on the _Executor_ or _Death Star_ hours ago. Specifically, within two hours of when Luke was taken into Imperial custody. The life support I am on is not limited to the obvious respirator. I am on about 10 or 12 different medications, some set dose and some drip dose. I carried none with me, because I expected to be off the moon quickly enough that it would not matter medically." He paused for a moment. "And because Palpatine has never been... happy when he found out I carried more of that stuff than reasonably necessary for me to fulfill my duties to the Empire. Never more than half a year's stockpile even for open-ended missions on my own flagship. The last dose I had of any of it was yesterday, and the drip stuff ran out a few hours ago. I should be reasonably stable until this is all over. All I need for tomorrow is a clear mind and access to the Force."

"'Reasonably stable'? Our lives depend on someone who says he's 'reasonably stable'?"

"Physically stable and mentally stable are two different things, General. I'll be able to get done what needs doing. After that, there's nothing anyone down here can do to help or hurt the situation anyway." He looked away, sitting in the corner nearest Luke and leaning with weariness against the bars.

//Father?//

//Leia, don't worry about me. There's nothing you can do.//

//Then show me how to work the locks.//

His head turned towards her and she could feel his surprise.

//Both sets. If you get worse before we get out of here, someone needs to be able to get us all out. And if you get to where you can't move, someone needs to be able to move around the base. The food and water will only last for a few days.//

//Leia, troopers may have started trickling back in. And they left because I went a little crazy out there several hours ago.//

//Doesn't matter. I've survived full-fledged battles before. I can take care of myself if I have a weapon I know how to use. And I've seen the wreckage of war before. I'll be fine.//


	12. Chapter 12

It was two hours later when Leia came back in, carrying two blasters on her belt and R2-D2 rolling behind her. "The rest of the strike team is heading towards the Ewok village with Threepio. They promised to stay there until everything is over."

Vader was where she'd left him, leaning against the bars and with his mask turned slightly towards Luke. Han and Chewie were talking quietly together. She'd let them get into the same cell before she left; with the reduced danger from the strike team being gone, there really wasn't any reason not to keep the cells unlocked.

R2-D2 speeded over to Luke's side, beeping worriedly. He carefully used his manipulator arm to more firmly tuck the blanket around the young Jedi's shoulders.

Leia tossed Han a blaster. "Just in case. We don't know how bad things might get before the day is over tomorrow."

He nodded and Chewie howled.

"It's past sunset. We all need sleep," she reminded them all, turning down the brightness of the lights. The control was just beside the door, but no one seemed to have noticed it before.

She entered the cell with her father and brother, starting to inflate the other mattress. //You sure you're going to be okay like that? It's going to be a long night.//

//I've dealt with worse, Leia.// She could almost swear he sighed. "Luke needs another dose of the head medicine," he whispered.

"Couldn't you do that?"

He slowly raised a hand. She could see it shaking. "I would hurt him if I did."

When that was taken care of, she laid down on the mattress and pulled a blanket over herself. "Do you really think tomorrow will be okay?"

"There's a chance. If the Force wills it, the Light will win the battle."

"Try to get some sleep. R2-D2 can watch Luke."

"I doubt it." He nodded at the little droid. "I hope you do not mind if I share the watch with you."

R2 beeped at him.

//Vader...//

//Leia, if I don't get those meds I'll probably be on the edge of a coma by this time tomorrow night. This may be the only quiet time I ever have anywhere near Luke in my entire life. I'll meditate long enough to feel rested tomorrow, but I'm not planning on sleeping.//

She nodded, turning over to face the wall.

It was a long time before she could go to sleep, tears quietly dripping down her face.

...

They all huddled together in the tiny cell, Leia holding Luke close against her as he clutched at her shoulders.

It was all over for them. The Rebellion would survive, and likely prosper. But those on the moon itself were doomed.

Vader clutched at her hand, and she squeezed back.

Old animosities had no place in this final few moments.

Vader had lowered the shield. The fleet could get to the _Death Star_. Palpatine was most likely doomed.

Small comfort for those about to die.

It had only been a moment later when Vader had felt the power building far above. A few seconds later Leia had grown anxious without knowing why.

And then Vader had explained what was happening.

The _Death Star_ was operational. There was enough power in the laser battery system to destroy the moon.

Thankfully, Vader hadn't told them how long firing the laser actually took.

The collar was off of Luke, and the three Skywalkers were clinging to each other in the Force, Vader's breathing strangely strangled from the middle stages of withdrawal of his life-support medications, even as they all were clinging to each other physically.

It would all be over soon.

She felt the power surge far above, and clutched her brother so hard he cried out. She screamed...

... there was a jolt ...


	13. Chapter 13

Vader stared into the darkness as Leia drifted into sleep.

All was quiet.

 _This is my last night on the world,_ he realized, one tear trickling down his face to pool somewhere in the mask. _Of all the ends I ever tried to envision... I never thought of anything like this. Me, the Chosen One, laid low at last from a lack of a medication._

He even knew which drug's lack would be what killed him.

His gaze drifted back to Luke, smiling despite himself. _My son. My brave, beautiful son._

He gathered courage for a moment, then lifted a shaking hand, letting his fingers drift through Luke's hair.

 _Something will remain after I am gone. My family and my people will continue after I am gone. The Jedi will survive._

Luke sighed under his touch.

Vader's heart melted.

Luke's arm moved, clutching part of his pillow.

 _He's dreaming._ Vader's eyes widened in awe. "Is it a good dream, Little One?" he whispered as quietly as he could.

R2-D2 moved over next to the pair, adjusting Luke's blanket slightly.

"You remember, don't you?" he whispered to the little droid. "And you know."

THe only answer was a hushed beep and a mechanical sidle closer.

It was going to be a long night.

...

A bit later, Leia started moaning and twitching.

 _A nightmare?_ Vader wondered for a moment, debating whether to stay where he was or drag himself over to her side.

Just over 12 hours at the most before he would have to modify the shield using the Force, and he already knew he was too weak to walk.

 _If the nightmare is of me, then it is my duty to stop it. If the nightmare is not of me, then it is my paternal duty to stop it._

He had just managed to reach her side when she suddenly started doing something that looked like she was trying to strangle her pillow.

He reached over to shake her, leaning slightly on the mattress.

And then her eyes opened wide into the darkness and she started screaming hysterically, in the way of those who fear they will soon have no further use for either lungs or vocal cords.

Everyone but Luke, who grunted something that sounded mysteriously like "but the suns aren't even up yet, Aunt Beru", was awake in about five seconds.

"Nightmare," Vader firmly ennuciated, explaining to the others while trying to calm Leia down. "Whatever it was, it was only a nightmare. Not real."

Everyone else settled down. The moment Han and Chewie were asleep, Leia scooted closer to Vader, letting him wrap a shaking arm around her shoulders as he half-lay there.

//It felt real,// she haltingly told him.

//What was it?//

//Tomorrow happened as planned, or at least I think as planned.//

//Then why the screaming?//

She looked up and into his eyes, tears streaming down her face. //It was operational.//

...

It was another hour before Vader managed to get her calmed down enough that she could go back to sleep and weakly dragged himself back to Luke's side.

The young Jedi lay there, color finally fully returning to his face. _Good. If we all survive this, he'll be okay._

Leia's dream had shaken him. Greatly.

There was always the chance it was a Force-vision.

Vader all too well knew the risks involved in ignoring visions.

 _I can't just take down the shield. I have to reconfigure it. A shield that big and powerful, reconfigured to the radius of the moon's upper atmosphere... But how much of the blast would it absorb...? It would overload the shield... if the extra energy could be bled away so the shield continued to hold until the blast was over..._

He stared at the ceiling, resting the back of his head on a bar. _What do I do?_

Luke muttered something, clutching his pillow again.

Vader eased down, lying on his side against the very edge of the mattress and carefully putting an arm around the young Jedi's shoulders. _I'm so sorry, my son. Sorry about Bespin. Sorry you did not grow up with your sister and parents as you should have. I am sorry for the pain you are in now._

And I am sorry we will never get the chance to know each other as we should have. You will have never known what it is to fight beside another Jedi when it comes time for you to train whatever apprentices you may find. And if you ever have children, you will be a father without ever having been a son. I wish I could change all that, my son, but I cannot.

He was so tired...  



	14. Chapter 14

Luke drifted somewhere between total insensibility and vague consciousness. The world was soft and warm, and though there was a hint of throbbing pain in his feet and a dull stinging ache in his back, all seemed harmless and unworrisome.

He felt safe for some reason, like nothing dared hurt him again.

It was something he'd never experienced before, and it jarred in his mind for some reason.

The mental examination of this drew him even closer to semi-consciousness.

A shaking hand was on his shoulder, arm wrapped around him. Luke supposed it was the same unknown stranger that had been there earlier. It still didn't matter much to him. He was still in a mental state where the world was kind and nothing could be truly wrong.

He groaned slightly, starting to really feel the pain in his feet.

He almost woke up.

There was some sort of environmental control nearby. He could hear some sort of fan... there was a cycling sound...

It sounded almost like...

That woke him up.

He blinked into the low light, arm clutching his pillow.

All in the world was calm.

The only sound was the whoo-pah noise of moving air and his own rushed , frightened breathing.

And not five feet away, the slightly glinting mask of Darth Vader.

Luke closed his eyes, shoulders shaking uncontrollably. _What's he doing here?_

Vader stirred weakly, hand moving slightly on Luke's shoulder.

There was a little beep nearby. Luke opened his eyes just in time to see R2-D2's lights come on nearby.

"What's going on?" he whispered, still shaking. _This isn't as the world is!_

The droid beeped again, just a bit louder.

It was then that Vader moved in such a way that Luke knew he had to be awake.

He quickly closed his eyes, clinging to his pillow and sheets.

"Are you awake?" The sharp edges were gone, and there was a quality to it that Luke couldn't identify, but it was unmistakably Vader's voice.

Luke shook harder. It was barely a few seconds later when he cried out involuntarily (although not loudly) as his back impacted Vader's arm.

"Careful. You are still injured." There was no apparent malice in Vader's voice, but Luke knew it could still be just a trick. He couldn't feel the Force, couldn't sense if he was in danger... couldn't even start to hope to sense Vader's intentions.

He tried to twist over, to at least fully face the Dark Lord, but Vader held him down.

"One of your ankles is twisted, and judging from what little I can tell--and believe me, I sense you just as little as you sense me--there are breaks in some of the bones in both your feet. Putting any of your weight on them would be inadvisable." He still spoke in a whisper, but for a moment Luke heard the pragmatic edge return to his voice.

"And since when have you ever cared," Luke whispered fiercely, "Father?"

Vader pulled back his hand. There was something Luke couldn't quite place in the way he moved. "Since they told me my son was dead."

There was a choked quality to the statement, and Luke felt his eyes go wide. "Anakin?" he whispered so quietly he almost doubted Vader would hear him.

"Do I even have the right to that name anymore?" Vader sobbed quietly.

 _He really... turned back?_

Luke, aching with every movement and feeling bandages pull against his skin, slowly grasped Vader's hand and lifted it to his own face. It was the most affirmation of family bonds the young Jedi could give.

There was a hiccuping something from Vader that might have been a gasp from anyone else. He gently ruffled Luke's hair, while Luke lay there, eyes closed, simply basking in the attention.


	15. Chapter 15

  
Anakin and Luke lay like that, just being together for the first real time in either of their lives.

It was half an hour later when Luke whispered, "Why can't I feel the Force?"

Vader--no, Luke thought with wonder, Anakin--gently ran his fingers along the collar Luke had barely noticed.

"This keeps you from touching the Force or leaving a mark on it. It cannot be taken off safely until I drop the shield tomorrow. I am sorry, but having Palpatine guess something other than a slightly drifted Sith apprentice is going on here any earlier than necessary endangers everyone."

Luke nodded.

Anakin cradled his son's cheek with his hand. "I promise I will get that thing off of you the first moment it is safe to do so."

Luke smiled slightly and closed his eyes again.

"Luke, we need to talk."

Something in Anakin's voice worried Luke.

"What?" He looked straight into his father's mask.

"Things will get bad tomorrow. Depending on what happens, things could get very bad."

Luke latched onto his father's hand with his own.

"There is a slight chance the Death Star is operational and has enough charge to destroy this moon. If that is the case, we are all dead as soon as I drop the shield. There is a chance the shield can be recongfigured to just cover the moon, but there's no way it would offer enough defense. Your fleet can probably take the Death Star out, operational or not, but we would all be dead within an hour."

"I'm guessing that's the 'very bad' possibility."

Anakin nodded.

Luke swallowed. "What else?"

The elder Skywalker lay there for a moment, completely still.

"Father?"

Someone grunted nearby in their sleep.

"I am so sorry, Luke," he choked out.

"Tell me what's going on."

"Unless there is some sort of miracle, you lose me again within the next two days."

"What!?" Luke gasped in disbelief.

"Part of the life support I am on is ten medications, none of which I have had since before I came down here. By this time tomorrow, I will be in a coma. If I do not get them by about a day after that... I am sorry, my son."

Luke lay there, trembling and crying, completely unable to respond, while his father wiped away what tears he could with a shaking black-gloved hand.

"And when exactly are you planning on telling anyone what the meds are?" came a hushed voice from somewhere nearby.

 _Han?_

"There's not a chance in the world I'll get them, Solo. Someone will tie the issue of whether to let me live or leave me alone to die in a committee and I will be gone before they decide. The whole Alliance likely either wants vengence for the things I have done or sees me as some sort of man-killing carnivore that must be put down for the sake of all sentient life. Me turning back to the Lightside is not going to change that, General."

"Still, there's always a chance..."

Anakin listed off the medications and amounts. Luke did not pay much attention to the list.

R2-D2 beeped. There were clicking sounds from Han's direction. "Guess we've both got the list; I've got it in my commlink, Artoo's got it in memory."

"Thank you. Both of you."

Luke tried to stifle a yawn.

"Shh, Luke. You're hurt. Go ahead and sleep. I will still be here in the morning. I promise." Anakin wrapped an arm around Luke again.

Tears were still seaping from Luke's eyes when he fell asleep.


	16. Chapter 16

Morning.

Han had to help Luke eat, and Leia had to help Vader pour one of the nutrient shakes into the suit’s food intake port.

And then, the waiting. Luke and Vader’s secret was out, so they spent what time they had together talking. About the past of the Order, ancient and more recent. Even as a turnback, Vader was the last repository of knowledge about the old Jedi Order.

He was passing on all of that knowledge he could, as fast as he could, for he could feel his time growing short.

He still had the strength he would need to reconfigure the shield. He doubted there was much in his life he would do after that.

Finally, Han’s commlink started buzzing. The Corellian whispered for a moment, then...

“Three hours. Better start doing whatever it is you’re going to do, Big Guy.”

No one had called Vader by his true name since Luke’s realization. He wasn’t all that surprised. Luke prefered to call him ‘Father’, indulging in the newly formed familial relationship between them, for however long it might last. Leia called him ‘Father’ in the Force and by no title or name verbally. And to everyone else, he had always been Vader.

No matter what Luke said or thought, he probably didn’t have the right to his old name anymore anyway. He had simply done too much. There was too much blood on his hands.

He could only hope to reduce the innocent blood that would be spilled later that day. For no matter what he did, there would be death to come.

Vader shakily pulled away from Luke, closed his eyes, and submerged himself in the Force.

...

Han saw Vader relax.

And that was when he went into action. “I need to talk to Mothma.”

A minute or two’s pause.

“Mon Mothma here. What is it, General?”

“Remember how you said you owed me a favor personally for what happened on Hoth and Bespin?”

“General, get to the point.”

“I want to cash in the favor. Quietly. Any chance I can get you to send down a few medics with no grudge against any who need their care?”

“That should be possible.”

“And these.” He repeated what Vader had told him the night before.

A pause. “General Solo, what in the Maker’s universe are you dealing with down there?”

“An ex-Jedi ex-Sith who is currently reconfiguring the shield so that the _Death Star_ is left in the open. Without the meds, he claims he’s got well under 48 hours to live, and under 24 hours of consciousness. No restitution possible of any kind beyond this one act. Not even a change for an apology.”

A pause. “Does he know you are requesting this?”

“Not a clue.”

“I will see what I can do, General. And the situation will remain as quiet as possible until this is all over.”

“Thank you.”

The connection clicked off.

...

Vader slowly eased himself back into the physical world. The reconfiguration had worked, for the moment.

“Done,” he whispered in the loudest voice he could manage. “Cutting power to it should still drop it when the battle ends.”

He tried to drag himself back over to Luke, to do what he had promised to do, but he was just too weak.

Too weak...

Some metallic noise, and he was suddenly up off the floor and moving. In a moment, he was next to Luke again, on the mattress this time. “Thank you, Chewbacca,” he mumbled.

There was a yowl of response.

With shaking hands, vader unclasped the collar from his son’s neck and collapsed,unconscious, even as he threw the collar to the far corned of the cell.

...

Luke lay there for a long moment, savoring the return of the Force.

The only real things to sense were fear, exhaustion, and worry.

But there was a bit of hope left. And even the dark things came from life.

He pulled closer to Anakin, ever so slightly, and put an arm around the still, black form.

//Father, I’m right here,// he sent over and over.

A low moan and a tremble under Luke’s arm.

//Shh. Just rest.//

//Luke...//

It was the first time Luke had heard, really heard, his father’s voice in the Force, and the first time he had been even exposed to it since the elder Skywalker had returned to the Lightside.

It was a warm voice, stretched with exhaustion and tinged with pain. But still warm and inviting.

Somehow, slowly blindly fumbling, their right hands found each other and the two Jedi weakly clung.

And then...

This was their time together.

The only time they might ever have together.

They spent over an hour in silence, just being. Then...

//I’m so sorry, Luke.// The elder Skywalker stirred slightly. //You grew up without parents, heir to a dying people...//

//And I doubt I could be said to have turned out badly, Father, even given all that.//

//None of which is to my credit, all of which is to yours.// The words bothered Luke; they were filled with both fatherly pride and self-depeciation all mixed together at once.

//You gave me something to avoid becoming. You gave me something to fight for, something to hope for.//

//In the worst way possible.//

//Father...//

//And now, I’m probably going to leave you again.

//I probably don’t even have the right to use my own name any more...//

Luke thought he understood what was going on.

And if he was wrong, his father was never going to forgive him for what he was about to do.

//Then I guess I went through all this for nothing.//

Stunned silence between the two Jedi. Luke couldn’t believe what he’d just said, and he could feel waves of shock and distress rolling off of Anakin.

//I didn’t mean it like that! Father... I...//

Something suddenly shifted in the Force.

Leia and Luke both asked Anakin as one, //What was that?//

Anakin’s voice was full of mourning. //It’s operational. And it’s being primed to fire.//


	17. Chapter 17

A full half-hour had passed.

“What is he waiting for?” Leia whispered. Han’s arms tight around her. Not for the first time did Vader wish that the couple would have an honest chance at life together.

But above, like a malevolent eye, sat a fully charge superlaser.

“The fleet,” Vader weakly spoke. “He waits for the fleet. So they will see what happens. So he can gloat.”

 _This is all my fault. If I’d never followed Palpatine to begin with..._

Something grasped at his wrist. Vader shifted his wrist so that Luke’s hand slid into his own again.

//I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.//

//Luke... You had and have every right...//

//Stop being a doormat. You don’t even know how the universe will take the news of your turning back...//

//If we all die here, no one will know.// Vader looked straight at Luke and saw the young Jedi’s eyes widen. //Palpatine will turn this into whatever propaganda he wants the Empire to hear.//

//There’s got to be some way out of this, Father. Somehow.//

//There isn’t, Luke.// He was quiet for a moment. //I just wish you and your sister and friends weren’t here.//

//Like you think you deserve this?//

//Do you have any clue how much blood is on my hands!?!?//

//Do you have any clue how much is on mine!? The conscripts who cleaned the _Death Star’s_ droids weren’t exactly threats to anyone, Father. Over half of the crew were probably forced into the military against their wills. And all it took was one shot. One shot.//

//Self defense has long been a proper legal defense...//

Luke had tears in the corners of his eyes. //X-Wings have hyperdrives. I could have left. But I didn’t.//

//Luke...//

//If you deserve this, then I deserve it, too..//

There was a change above, and Vader fumbled in the Force for the shield...

...and was too weak to even reach it.

...

Admiral Ackbar sat on the bridge of _Home One_. The moon of Endor spun below, a ball of brilliant greens and blues. For a moment, Ackbar wondered how long it had been since he or any of the rest of the Rebellion’s leaders had dared set foot on a living world.

“Commence attack!”

Suddenly, as the first fighters streamed towards the superweapon, the laser weapon visibly began to fire, a slight green glow building around the firing crater.

Over the intership comm, all that could be heard were gasps and Wedge Antillies screaming his wingmate’s name.

...

Vader and Luke looked straight at each other, reached out to each other in the Force, and said goodbye in case the Maker judged either of them harshly.

There was a scream through the Force, a danger feeling that even Han and Chewie seemed to feel.

There was a flash, and pain, and nothing.

And then, there was light.

  


* * *

  


  
That’s what could have happened.

 

* * *

A full half-hour had passed.

“What is he waiting for?” Leia whispered. Han’s arms tight around her. Not for the first time did Vader wish that the couple would have an honest chance at life together.

But above, like a malevolent eye, sat a fully charge superlaser.

“The fleet,” Vader weakly spoke. “He waits for the fleet. So they will see what happens. So he can gloat.”

 _This is all my fault. If I’d never followed Palpatine to begin with..._

Something grasped at his wrist. Vader shifted his wrist so that Luke’s hand slid into his own again.

//I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.//

//Luke... You had and have every right...//

//Stop being a doormat. You don’t even know how the universe will take the news of your turning back...//

//If we all die here, no one will know.// Vader looked straight at Luke and saw the young Jedi’s eyes widen. //Palpatine will turn this into whatever propaganda he wants the Empire to hear.//

//There’s got to be some way out of this, Father. Somehow.//

//There isn’t, Luke.// He was quiet for a moment. //I just wish you and your sister and friends weren’t here.//

//Like you think you deserve this?//

//Do you have any clue how much blood is on my hands!?!?//

//Do you have any clue how much is on mine!? The conscripts who cleaned the _Death Star’s_ droids weren’t exactly threats to anyone, Father. Over half of the crew were probably forced into the military against their wills. And all it took was one shot. One shot.//

//Self defense has long been a proper legal defense...//

Luke had tears in the corners of his eyes. //X-Wings have hyperdrives. I could have left. But I didn’t.//

//Luke...//

//If you deserve this, then I deserve it, too..//

//No you don’t. I acted with anger and maliciousness in my heart. You acted to preserve life.// _As I must now act._

There was a change above, and Vader rolled forcibly away from the others as far as he could, bumping against the bars and fumbling in the Force for the shield...

...made contact, and braced himself to channel the extra energy into the Force.

...

Admiral Ackbar sat on the bridge of _Home One_. The moon of Endor spun below, a ball of brilliant greens and blues. For a moment, Ackbar wondered how long it had been since he or any of the rest of the Rebellion’s leaders had dared set foot on a living world.

“Commence attack!”

Suddenly, as the first fighters streamed towards the superweapon, the laser weapon visibly began to fire, a slight green glow building around the firing crater.

Over the intership comm, all that could be heard were gasps and Wedge Antillies screaming his wingmate’s name.

 _May the Force be with them._

...

The blast hit the shield.

Vader screamed in both the Force and in physical reality, channeling as much energy as he could from the overloading shield back into space, raising the temperature of a thin layer of upper atmosphere.

Like with an overloaded circuit, something went wrong.

...

Luke stared, paralysed with fear, at Anakin’s contorting body.

There was a distant explosion, as if the shield generator itself had blown up.

Anakin screamed, as if something were ripping his soul apart.

He was suddenly very still, and the lights went out in the small room. R2-D2 had turned himself off long before, so the only light was the blinking of Anakin’s chestplate.

The blinking slowed.

And then, the room was plunged into darkness.

...

The last of the Imperial ships had either retreated, defected, or been destroyed.

The _Death Star_ was spacedust.

And Admiral Ackbar’s commlink was buzzing. “Hello, Ackbar here.”

“Admiral?” It was clearly Han Solo’s voice, although Ackbar could swear he heard human crying in the background.

“Yes, General Solo?”

“Tell Mon Mothma she only needs to send a few medics. And that what I said about their personal beliefs doesn’t matter anymore. She’ll know what I mean.”

Ackbar had never heard sorrow like that in a human’s voice except from the survivors of one of the Emperor’s massacres. “I will tell her. What has happened?”

“I think Mothma will want to explain this all herself. Solo out.”

The commlink clicked off with the finality of an ilikith’s jaws.  


* * *

But this is what really happened... 

  


* * *

A full half-hour had passed.

“What is he waiting for?” Leia whispered. Han’s arms tight around her. Not for the first time did Vader wish that the couple would have an honest chance at life together.

But above, like a malevolent eye, sat a fully charge superlaser.

“The fleet,” Vader weakly spoke. “He waits for the fleet. So they will see what happens. So he can gloat.”

 _This is all my fault. If I’d never followed Palpatine to begin with..._

Something grasped at his wrist. Vader shifted his wrist so that Luke’s hand slid into his own again.

//I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.//

//Luke... You had and have every right...//

//Stop being a doormat. You don’t even know how the universe will take the news of your turning back...//

//If we all die here, no one will know.// Vader looked straight at Luke and saw the young Jedi’s eyes widen. //Palpatine will turn this into whatever propaganda he wants the Empire to hear.//

//There’s got to be some way out of this, Father. Somehow.//

//There isn’t, Luke.// He was quiet for a moment. //I just wish you and your sister and friends weren’t here.//

//Like you think you deserve this?//

//Do you have any clue how much blood is on my hands!?!?//

//Do you have any clue how much is on mine!? The conscripts who cleaned the _Death Star’s_ droids weren’t exactly threats to anyone, Father. Over half of the crew were probably forced into the military against their wills. And all it took was one shot. One shot.//

//Self defense has long been a proper legal defense...//

Luke had tears in the corners of his eyes. //X-Wings have hyperdrives. I could have left. But I didn’t.//

//Luke...//

//If you deserve this, then I deserve it, too..//

//No you don’t. I acted with anger and maliciousness in my heart. You acted to preserve life.// _As I must now act._

There was a change above, and Vader rolled forcibly away from the others as far as he could, bumping against the bars and fumbling in the Force for the shield...

...made contact, and opened himself to the Force. _Guide me,_ he asked, as humble and contrite as he had ever been. _Show me what I need to do. Use me, Maker. Let this world, let my family survive this_

He lost track of reality, held tight within the Force itself

...

Admiral Ackbar sat on the bridge of _Home One_. The moon of Endor spun below, a ball of brilliant greens and blues. For a moment, Ackbar wondered how long it had been since he or any of the rest of the Rebellion’s leaders had dared set foot on a living world.

“Commence attack!”

Suddenly, as the first fighters streamed towards the superweapon, the laser weapon visibly began to fire, a slight green glow building around the firing crater.

Over the intership comm, all that could be heard were gasps and Wedge Antillies screaming his wingmate’s name.

 _May the Force be with them._

The superlaser fired, green bolt of intense energy rushing towards the moon...

...and stopping, inexplicably, at the upper atmosphere. “Where’s all that energy going?” he asked the officer in charge of sensors.

“No clue, Admiral. Nothing is surging, and the atmospheric temperature is stable. No signs that the shield is either absorbing or deflecting it. It’s just... disappearing.”

Were his eyes growing too dry, or was the jungle below more red and pink than it had been a moment before?

Everyone was suddenly staring out the viewscreen as the _Death Star_ stopped firing, as the Emperor apparently gave up on hoping that a sustained blast would break the stubborn barrier.

The moon was _blooming_...

...

Anakin came back to awareness slowly, the Force gently settling him back into physical reality.

He was so tired... So weak...

But they were all alive...

Luke was there, suddenly, with pain in his face.

“Shouldn’t have come over here, Luke. You’ll just hurt yourself more...”

“Father...” Luke suddenly buried himself in Anakin’s arms.

“It’s over?” Han asked from across the cell. His voice seemed so faint...

“It’s over,” Anakin murmured.

“Thank you, Vader.”

“Just call me Anakin,” he breathed.

The last thing he heard as he closed his eyes and dropped into a healing trance was Luke sobbing against him.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter brought to you by the movie _Clue_ and the effects of being begged incessantly not to kill a character during a rough semester of college.


	18. Chapter 18

  
The world was warm.

Not so warm as to be uncomfortable, but enough that he just lay there, not wanting to wake further and not really having a reason to.

Everything seemed soft. Even the ridge in the suit just behind his shoulderblades that always drove him crazy whenever he lay on his back seemed to be soft. His mind snagged on that for a second, but it didn’t matter. The world was warm, soft, and as far as he could tell from the Force, nothing in particular was trying to kill him at the moment.

How long since he had been able to relax like this? Since the world had seemed to hold no grudge against him?

It was a wonderful feeling.

But something seemed missing, even given how comfortable he was. Something was wrong. Well, not wrong. But not right, either.

Something was missing.

No, someone.

Several someones, in fact.

Anakin made himself slit his eyes open. He was so tired, but nothing hurt. The ceiling was as bare as the one in the holding cells, but it was brighter and cleaner.

He gagged slightly, and there was something cold on his neck for an instant before his throat went completely numb.

“Hey, Big Guy. you feel like waking up yet?”

He turned his head slightly. Han was sitting there. at the edge of his vision he recognized an IV rack.

“You’re in the medcenter on _Home One_. Don’t try to talk; they couldn’t hook up the same sort of breathing arangement you had in the suit, so they simply intubated you.”

 _But where are... shouldn’t Luke and Leia be here?_

“Leia’s in a meeting with Mon Mothma and some of the other political types. Luke’s in the care of the medics, and thanks to the condition of his feet, they couldn’t put him in bacta. Everyone expects him to make a full recovery, although his ankles are probably going to be weak for a while. That what you were scrunching your forehead for?”

Anakin let his eyes drift closed again. _So everyone is fine..._

“Everyone’s wondering what you did down there.”

He opened his eyes, confused.

“The entire moon bloomed. Flowers everywhere. Even the natives have never seen anything like it.”

 _How... Did the Force just absorb the blast into itself?_

“You don’t have a clue either, do you? No shame in admitting it; I suppose everything that happened down there is a bit past human understanding.”

Anakin couldn’t resist snorting.

“Right now, there’s nothing you need to worry about.”

He felt his eyes closing...

...

Leia sat quietly in Luke’s room.

“Is it good or bad that they’ve been talking for days?”

“Bad, Brother.” She looked over at where he lay in his bed, feet elevated and wrapped in heavy bandages. “It means they’re arguing, and that when they finally vote the battle will be farther in memory.”

“There’s still a chance, though, right?”

She couldn’t bear to give her twin an answer, the same as she had asked Han to be there in her place when her father woke up a few days earlier for a few moments before dropping back into mildly sedated unconciousness. The less either Luke or her father knew about what could be about to happen, the better.

“Leia?”

“There’s a chance.” _But it’s so small..._

She couldn’t, wouldn’t, tell Luke of the question Mon Mothma had quietly asked her in a hallway before the deliberations based on the long debriefings they had all endured began.

 _“Leia.”_

“Yes, Mon?”

The elder woman laid a hand on her shoulder. “You may be excluded because of conflict of interest, Princess, but as the last member of Alderaan’s royal family you do have some voice.”

“I’ve already told you what happened down there.”

“Leia, you do not have a voice in his fate, but you do have a voice in his fate.”

An uncomfortable, stunned silence fell between them.

“You want me to tell you how I want my father to die.” Bitterness dripped from her voice.

“If things go wrong, either your voice will be heard or those who are calling for his death will. Would you rather let them pick a method?”

“Under Alderaani law, those who have committed crimes repay the damage with service. Not with the loss of physical life. If he is executed in the name of Alderaan’s memory, it will kill what is left of what Alderaan stood for.”

“There’s more than Alderaan calling for his punishment, and you know that well. He’s the first high-rank Imperial to ever end up in our custody. He is a figurehead.”

“The only case in which Alderaan ever allowed death to be officially caused was in allowing nature to take its own course.” Leia was ashamed at even mentioning it. “If something happened, and someone felt it was their time, or if there was nothing left to be done anyway in the end stages of anything, that person would simply be dosed up on LoveJoy and a sedative to the point where if they weren’t unconscious they would be in drugged ecstacy and if they weren’t in drugged ecstacy they would be too sedated to feel any pain at all, and just allowed to go. He’s already admitted that without medications he dies within 60 hours, and the medics confirmed that.”

“The bothans want blood...”

“And I want justice, real justice. Even those with no brain activity were given the drugs, Mon. And even the most heinous killer was allowed to try to make it up to society somehow. Don’t. Dare. Dishonor. My. Homeworld.”

Leia stormed away.

The result of the deliberations had seemed certain from its start. Only Luke’s insulation from most of the events that had occurred since they had all arrived on _Home One_ kept him from that knowledge.

It was so hopeless.

A minor aide stuck his head slightly in the door. “They made a decision, Princess.”

She tried to keep the horror out of her eyes and the terror out of her voice as she asked, “What did they decide?”


	19. Chapter 19

Anakin groaned slightly as he came back to awareness. Something was shaking his arm...

He blinked a bit, eyes unaccustomed to the full lighting of the room. _Han must’ve kept the lights dimmed._

There was someone nearby, someone at least somewhat familiar. Through teary eyes, he could see a blur of white beneath what seemed to be rather distinctive auburn hair.

“Senator Mothma,” he tried to say. It came out as an uncomfortable movement in his throat and a bit of an audible gurgle. _Still can’t talk._

“Mr. Skywalker.”

Her voice had the tiniest hint of hesitancy, as if she wasn’t sure he wanted to be called that. He nodded slightly, trying to signal that he understood.

“A decision concerning your fate has been made.”

He felt his eyes go wide. _Don’t I get to plead for myself here? Those things Luke and I said to each other down there... we were both wrong. This isn’t my time to go! Luke shouldn’t have to rebuild on his own._

I can’t let him have that much put on his shoulders because of the things I’ve done.

He deserves better than being orphaned again.

He trembled, suddenly feeling ill from the sudden stress and the drugs he was on.

A warm but slender hand was suddenly on his shoulder. “You are hereby given full un-revocable reprieve for all crimes committed up to yesterday night.”

 _How?_

“You are still in bad shape, so by order of the medics all legal explanations have to wait. There is, however, a decision you do need to make soon.”

He felt his eyebrow raise.

“They can either fix up and put you back in the suit, or they can try to come up with something different. The sooner you decide, the sooner they can rig an airway that does not constrict your ability to communicate. The medics want you to think about it for a few days.”

He nodded, eyes wide.

She slumped slightly. “And then there’s this.” She lifted a small but bulging envelope. “I’m sorry, Anakin.” She put it near his left hand.

And then he knew. Padmé’s funeral hadn’t been a sham.

She was gone.

The love of his life, the mother of his children, was gone.

Tears started streaming down his face.

He felt Mon Mothma squeeze his shoulder. “Even up to the end, she never gave up hope that you would come back to your senses.”

 _She’s really gone._ He curled up ever so slightly, leaning towards his right until he strained against restraints he hadn’t even noticed.

...

Mon Mothma simply sat there for several hours after Anakin had succumbed to exhaustion and grief. There was a lull in her schedule, and while she had just that morning considered simply going back to her quarters and watching her favorite holomovie while working on some diplomatic paperwork related to the new legitmacy of the Rebellion, the bonds of friendship she and Padmé Naberrie Skywalker had shared won out.

She knew that if the medics knew what she’d been about to give Anakin, they never would have let her come into the room with him. Stress at this time in his healing was dangerous. Even so, there was no way she would personally allow him to not have some physical evidence of whether or not his wife was still out there somewhere or not. He needed to know his real situation and start adjusting to it before he left the medcenter.

His real situation was that of a widower with two until recently estranged children and few other social contacts who was near the tail end of a spiritual crisis. _Better for him to deal with all he now is at once rather than in bits and pieces._

Footsteps behind her and a gasp.

“He’ll be fine, Leia. He’s just asleep.”

“And the decision?”

“Unrevocable reprieve, no strings or requirements.”

A thump behind her, and something in High Old Alderaanian that sounded something like what Bail had said when Leia had won her first political election.

Mon looked over her shoulder to see Leia rising from a kneeling position behind her. The Princess walked the few remaining steps and stood at Mon’s side. “It’s best if he sleeps right now.”

“What happened?”

“I let him know your mother is really gone.” She wrapped an arm around the younger woman. “He needed to know.”

Leia nodded with a sniff. “Mon, do you mind...”

“Sure. You two need time together anyway.”

She got up and left, Leia sitting in her vacated chair before she had even reached the door.


	20. Chapter 20

Leia just sat there for a while, acclimating herself to the undeniable fact that the ex-Sith who had defended her so strongly not even two weeks before was the same being as the limp form lying in the medical bed in front of her.

He seemed so helpless...

He was seemingly hairless apart from eyelashes and eyebrows and a large scar running from front to back had been carved into his scalp. A thick puffy blanket had been pulled up to his chin, and various tubes and wires ran under it from an assortment of drip racks, monitors, and other devices Leia could not identify. His left hand, IV-line running into its back and clutching at an envelope of some sort, stuck out slightly beyond the edge of the blanket. He seemed to have tried at some time to roll to his right, because his whole body seemed to lean that way.

Worst of all was the un-ignorable clear tube running from a medical oxygen compressor to his mouth. Leia could only guess how uncomfortable that would be if the medics weren’t keeping his throat numb.

As if on cue, there was a little sound like a someone trying to gag and not quite making it. She quickly reached over for the aenesthetic sprayer the medics had left there and had previously taught everyone with access to the room to use and gave him another dose, then put a hand on the cloth-covered bulge that was his shoulder.

After a moment, he calmed, breathing clearly again. His eyes blinked open a little and his head turned towards her a bit.

His eyes looked towards her after glancing around for a moment.

Luke’s eyes.

The edges of his mouth turned up slightly around the tube. Then, warm but oh-so-weak, //Leia.//

Everything washed over her and she found herself sitting there, unable to react, to speak, to do anything.

His eyebrows scrunched. //Leia?//

“I’m okay. Just a little flustered.”

//How is your brother doing?//

“He’s stable. Most of his injuries are healing well or already closed, and they start on the surgeries to reconstruct his feet soon. He’s on heavy painkillers and generally doing fine right now.”

//Good.// She could almost see him relax.

They sat like that for a while.

“How are you?”

//Tired. Worn out. Hurting. Glad to be alive, but...//

“But what?”

//She’s gone.// His hand started shaking, and it sounded as if small metal objects inside were clinking together.

It didn’t take much for Leia to figure out who he was talking about. “Mother?”

The tears running from the sides of his eyes were all the answer she needed.

“How?”

//I don’t know. She disappeared, rumor was that she had either fled into the Outer Rim or was with the Rebellion.//

Leia gently took the envelope from him and carefully opened it.

Two stylized rings, made of gold in two different sizes.

A piece of wood, carved roughly, on a chain.

Forms of some kind that were cleanly and precisely folded.

Leia wrapped the chain around Anakin’s fingers and unfolded the pages.

“Says here that she was rigging explosives at a base the Corellian segment of the Alliance was abandoning when something detonated before it should have.” She felt her shoulders start heaving. “The area around her was completely destroyed; everything of hers they were able to recover had already been moved onto the escape ships.”

//She went down fighting,// he whispered in the Force, barely projecting the words past the swirl of distress that was his soul.

After he had calmed somewhat and she had reclaimed her own voice, Leia asked him what the rings were.


	21. Chapter 21

He didn’t want to answer.

He really didn’t want to answer.

He knew those rings, had seen them in his dreams for years and in nightmares for decades more.

Leia squeezed his shoulder. “Father?”

//Your mother and I were married, but it was never made public. It would have been the worst scandal imaginable, even before I went Sith, so she kept hold of our wedding rings since she could have always passed them off as some family heirloom and I as a Jedi would have had no such excuse.// He took a deep ragged breath. //We hoped the world would change, that we could live in the open some day... but everything went so wrong... so wrong... I went dark, she disappeared, and then rumor said she’d died. I always tried to tell myself the tales were wrong, but somehow I knew. Even when there was a memorial service, I tried not to believe...//

Leia just stood there, obviously wanting to offer comfort but not exactly knowing how.

Anakin closed his eyes, trying to calm down on his own. There would be time later to mourn, once he had recovered more. Once Luke was okay. Once what was left of his family was safe.

After a moment of lying there like that, he finally managed to relax somewhat. He was tired suddenly, so tired...

“I’ll be back later. Just try to rest. I’m putting everything back in the envelope and sticking it in the locked personal drawer of the bedside table. It won’t be visible, but it’s safe.//

He nodded, then started coughing again.

The now-familiar wet spray of anesthetic on his throat.

Nothing changed.

He fell unconscious before the medics arrived.

...

Luke’s eyes fluttered open and he groaned.

“Everything went okay, kid.” Han was a blurry mass beside the small bed in a recovery room. “And that should be the worst of the surgeries.”

“Leia...” he groaned.

“Sorry, kid, but your sister is dealing with something right now. She isn’t sure when she’ll be here, might even be after they get you moved back to your room.”

Luke felt his eyebrows bunch slightly.

“Anakin woke up, Leia was over there, and he sorta... well... the medics call it ‘rejecting airway’. They’ve apparently got him temporarily stable now, but they’re trying to rig something a bit more permanent. Mon Mothma said she was going to give him the option of going back in the suit or experimenting with other forms of life support, but it looks like the Maker took the suit option away.”

Luke closed his eyes, trying to resist a sudden wave of nausea that washed over him.

Within seconds Han had him upright as he coughed up acid weakly, then lowered him back down and wiped his face off. “Just the drugs, kid. You’ll be fine in a few hours. They had you deep under, and they loaded you up with local anesthetics before they brought you out here.”

“Sorry...”

“Not a problem. Better for you to be a little sick than for you to be screaming your head off in pain.”

“Jedi... do not... feel... pain...”

“Kid, Leia told me how you were after Bespin. Don’t try to act stoic when there’s no need.” He ruffled the young Jedi’s hair. “Sleep it off if you need to; you were under a long time.”

Luke did just that.


	22. Chapter 22

Beeping nearby.

It wouldn’t let him drift back into sleep. He moaned, trying to escape reality.

A reality that came crashing back at him all too soon. _Padmé._ He would have given almost anything to have her there with him then. He needed her, now, more than he ever had. Even so... he was glad she had not lived to see him like this, scarred heavily and injured when she had fretted so over the scar that went through his right eyebrow. Granted, it had nearly taken the eye, but...

There was no way he would have ever knowingly subjected Padmé Naberrie Skywalker to the worry she would have been feeling now. He moaned again, suddenly realizing that the last few years and months of her life had been far worse than any bedside wait in a medcenter could ever be.

Something familiar was nearby. He slitted his eyes open.

Mon Mothma was sitting a little ways away, reading a book. She looked up. “Finally awake again?”

“Leia?” he mumbled, eyes widening as he realized he could talk.

“She’s in her quarters, asleep. It’s been hours, Anakin. The medics had to change airway methods.”

He could feel the breathmask pressing into his skin. “What happened?”

“Apparently, your lungs decided they wanted to work on their own. You’re still on oxygen and whatever else, but you’re doing all the work.”

“Not... possible...”

“The medics are chalking it up to an effect of whatever happened on the moon. Either that, or the Maker decided to give you a gift.”

He snorted. “I seriously doubt that.”

“Do you have any idea how many lives would have been lost if you hadn’t done what you did? Palpatine would have been destroying dissident planets within a year.

“And this time there would have been nothing to end it.”

Anakin turned his face towards the nearest wall.

“You honestly think the Maker would never consider such a thing worthy of a gift? Particularly since you personally saved a living world in the process?”

“I. Was. Sith. One of the blackest most evil beings to walk the Maker’s world. And I got there by acting like I could somehow learn to stop the people I cared about from dying. I tried to usurp the Maker’s control of life’s endings.”

“Anakin, no one other than a few control freaks has ever claimed that the Maker would not forgive his creations for their mistakes. If Luke or Leia were to touch the Darkness for a moment, act with it, and then catch themselves and set it aside, would you help them recover or throw them aside?”

The soul-injured Jedi was suddenly confronted by an image, such as he had once seen through the mask, of Luke standing over him with a lit lightsaber in his hand and patricide glistening in his eyes.

He shuddered.

The vision changed, morphing into one of a thrown lightsaber, lightning, Luke falling... screaming...

... calling for the aid of the father he had just tried to kill.


	23. Chapter 23

Luke woke with a start, clinging to his pillow.

It took a moment for him to regain his bearings.

“Luke? You awake?”

He forced his eyes open. “Wedge?”

A warm hand patted his shoulder. “The medics decided to put you here face-down ‘cause they thought’d be better for your feet, but they said they’d flip you over if you couldn’t stand it. That why you sound shaky, or do I need to tell one of them to get in here with more pain meds for my wingmate?”

Wedge’s face was the most welcome thing he’d seen since being transported off the moon. “Nightmare.”His voice dropped to a whisper. “Nothing but a nightmare.”

“Luke?”

“It was bad, and it looked like... maybe what could’ve happened if I hadn’t gotten in trouble down there.” He was talking and breathing far too quickly.

“Do I need to get one of the Medics?”

Luke forced himself to calm down. “No. No, I’m fine. I just got startled there for a moment.” The moment he was calm, however, he felt someone else’s turmoil through the Force.

If he read the personal variations in it correctly...

//Father!?//

...

Han was being shaken awake.

Well, more like _slapped_ awake...

It took a moment to register that for the fourth night in a row he was sleeping in Leia’s quarters, between her sheets, and with her tucked safely between his arms.

It was amazing what being frozen in carbonite, thawed, nearly fed to a giant sandmonster, and then barely escaping being blown into itty bitty pieces could do for making one realize what one’s real priorities were. They were planning on announcing the engagement just as soon as both Han’s future brother- and father-in-law could be told of these plans in the same room at the same time. It only seemed fair to let the entire family react at once. Chewie had been amazingly supportive, Goldenrod was trying to adjust his circuits to the concept, and Mon Mothma had told Leia she’d take on the gathered nobility of the galaxy if she had to with an added comment that ‘stranger things have happened.’

He shook her slightly. “Leia, wake up.”

She was still flailing, and then collapsed, shuddering in the sheets.

He held her close. “Nightmare?”

“More like another vision. And it was horrible.”

“Wanna talk about it?”

She shook her head.

“Any idea at all about what it was? Past or future?”

“It... it was like all my worst fears about what might happen after Luke left came to life.”

He held her close as she trembled for another few minutes.

She pushed him away, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. “I’d better go check on Luke and Father; if they picked up any of that...”

“... it could be pretty bad.”

Leia glared at Han with haunted eyes. “Han, in my vision... it almost came to killing between them.”

“From what I’ve heard about Bespin, it wouldn’t be the first time...”

“You. Don’t. Understand.”

Comprehension dawned.

Han lept to his feet and lunged for his small pile of belongings. “I’m going with you.”


	24. Chapter 24

By the time Han and Leia reached the medcenter, Luke had been temporarily moved into Anakin's room in the hope they could calm each other down.

Neither of them was looking all that wonderful at the moment.

Leia ran forward while Han hung back at the door. _Not my place. This is their first real moment together as a family._

He could hear Leia repeating, "It never happened," over and over again as she hugged the two injured Jedi (quite a feat as the beds were only close enough that father and son could somewhat grab a hold of each other's arms, be sure they were both there).

All he could do was just stand there watching.

 _I never had a family, but maybe that was better than this. Their family commits atrocities against itself._ A sudden lump in his throat and he started walking forward. _My family, soon_ The thought finally brings home that everything that happened since he came out of carbon-freeze has not been some sort of strange spice-induced dream bouncing between euphoria and sheer terror.

And then there was a gravelly stressed-lungs whisper from the ex-Sith to his son: "You think I can't forgive you for something that never happened, Luke? After all the things I actually did?"

A very rare sniffle from the kid.

 _He really is still just a kid. Saved the galaxy several times over. Managed to redeem one of the darkest sentient beings in Known Space. But yep, still a kid._

At least he gets to act like one for a little while now.

Everyone had calmed down in a few more minutes, at least as much as they were likely to calm down soon.  
Han swallowed hard, then looked straight at Leia, and asked, "Now good?"

Luke gave them a confused look.

There was a twinkle in Anakin's eye. _Hopefully that means he isn't going to change his mind and try to kill me._

She smiled, looking positively angelic despite mussed up hair and the mismatched clothing she had thrown on in the dark. "Yep." The word was positively unprincessly, but it fit her so well in that moment.

Gulp. A quick prayer to the Maker for mercy on his soul. "We're engaged."

Luke's jaw dropped. "Wow."

Anakin still had that twinkle in his eye. "I wish you two luck and happiness." There was something bittersweet in his voice, something on the edge of wailing tears but no, that wasn't like him at all...

Han was suddenly all so very aware that no one in the family had ever said anything at all about Leia's mother in his presence. _He had neither luck nor happiness, it seems._

A slightly raised arm, and Leia was accepting what seemed to be a very heartfelt fatherly embrace. A look of shock passed over Anakin's face for the barest instant, only to be replaced by a slightly sly smile.


	25. Epilogue

"Grandpa Grandpa Grandpa! Mommy says dinner's done."

The little boy peered up at him through his grandmother's eyes.

"I'll be there in a moment, little one." He put his book down on a table and followed the child through the door into the dining room.

He had never thought he would enjoy Midwinter's Fete as part of a family, and yet here he was five years after everything had nearly ended.

The others were already around the table, the young ones barely keeping still in their chairs.

Jacen, Jaina, and Bail, all wonderfully four-years-old and loving to show it.

Jacen and Jaina seemed to take after Han's family; there was certainly very little about their appearances that suggested anyone Anakin had ever met from his own or Padme's families.

Bail, on the other hand...

He was a mix of his grandmother and his great-grandmothers, and it showed.

Everything was already on the table as he sat down.

Little Bail made a face at him from across the table and he made a face back.

Leia's choice of names should have bothered him. She had certainly thought so when she had told him the names she and Han had picked for their little brood of surprises. Han still hadn't quite forgiven him for keeping his mouth shut, but what was he supposed to do? There really was no good way to tell your daughter and her chosen lifemate that they had triplets on the way, was there?

She had apologized for the baby's name until he had pulled her close and told her that he had no problem with the choice. And, amazingly, he didn't. Bail Organa had done what Anakin Skywalker was not around to do, and had done an excellent job at it. "Having your biological father reenter your life does not mean you have to ignore the existence of the one you called Papa when you were five," he had whispered to her.

"So Big Guy, how are things going with training the next batch of Jedi?"

"The usual insanities. Oh, and it looks like there's mutual crushing going on around the Temple."

"Father..." came the predictable embarrassed whisper.

"I seem to find someone randomly falling out of meditations every time a particular head of red hair comes through the courtyard."

"Father!"

"Uncle Lukie's got a girlfriend?"

Jaina could be just so adorably cute sometimes...

"No," her father corrected. "Uncle Lukie _wishes_ he had a girlfriend."

There was the distinct sound of a ringing comlink in the next room.

Han left to go check it, then stuck his head in a moment later.

"Hey, Kid, call for you. I don't know who it is, but she's got red hair..."

Luke dashed out to the sound of laughter and whuffling.

 _Life is good._


End file.
